Need Rifle for my little man

So took my 6yr old boy to the range with his sisters 22 henry, and he was hitting small keg at 60yrds with open sights. Switched him to his big boy gun, his Henry lever 22mag Ive been saving for him, and he was on target at 100yrds with a scope. Blew my mind. Put him on my .308 and I was holding the back of the stock (for recoil management) while he peeked through the scope a called out adjustments, and was able to hit the kill zone (prob a 8 inch group haha) 3 times. I busted out his grandpa 25.06 and before he went to bed set him up to see if he could shoulder it see through the scope and he could, but the next am at the range I realized it had quite a kick to it, oldschool wood stock gun, no pad, no muzzle brake etc.

Need a small stature smaller caliber gun for his first deer rifle ASAP, he wont shut up about shooting his first deer next weekend and I cant let the moment pass. Doing research as we speak but let me know what you guys have done for your kids. Is a bolt action .223 reasonable for a whitetail doe? Trying not to have to buy another caliber of ammo....

Thanks!!

edit; dont wanna risk a 22mag not doing the job on a deer, otherwise that gun is the perfect size for him.

6mm Creed in a Ruger American, cut the stock to fit him, put a slip on pad on it, it will allow you to add weight to reduce recoil.

223 is reasonable for whitetail doe with decent bullets.

I started my boy out with a Ruger Mk2 in 22-250. Very low recoil and its velocities drop most deer in their tracks. Great thing about the Ruger it was s short LOP also which is good for kids.

Good to know the size fits, but .22 mag is not a legal deer caliber anyway.


To your other question, the .223 is acceptable in shorter ranges. Try to find a good bullet/cartridge in the 60-64gr range if you can.

22Mag or any other rimfire is NOT LEGAL for deer
https://tpwd.texas.gov/regulations/outdoor-annual/hunting/general-regulations/means-and-methods

If the Henry fits him could he not shoot a 30-30?
An Encore should fit him well also

Savage Axis XP Compact .243

Hornady offers reduced recoil ammo for the .243 if you're looking for additional shooting comfort for a youngster.

Also, while this model does not come with the adjustable AccuTrigger, there are several YouTube videos that show how it can be adjusted quite easily if needed sometime down the road.

Good luck to you both.

30-30 in a lever kicks like a mule. Just saying

P102 has a 6.5Grendel for sale. I'm sure it has an adjustable stock to fit the smaller shooter.

That would work well.

A bolt gun in 300 black out or a hamr would be perfect for a kiddo for a first deer rifle.

I did creedmoors for my kids in a boyd’s at one stock so it grew with the kid..
Light loads eventually became full power. They handled them well at age 8 or so

At the same time I shot the 25.06, I also shot my nephews .243, savage, no extra pad, still pretty stout. 30-30 also pretty tough, as well as my Marlin 45-70 imagine that haha. Hes a little guy, most school group pics you see the top of his head or peeking out from between the other kids. But hes tough as they come too... I like the idea of 243 reduced recoil, as well as the other options here. I might just have him set up with an ar this go round, he can stand and use blind window rest, see how he does. And yes I knew there were restrictions on caliber, wasnt sure .223 was even legal but looks like it just rimfire thats a no-no.

In any event, pumped doesnt even begin to describe how cool its going to be to have my little dude hunting with me. Been drilling it in his head about how much patience youve got to have, which he def need to work on, being 6 and all haha.

A good muzzle break on any moderate caliber rifle will do wonders for recoil.

Food for thought, you can keep a rifle short and light without sacrificing barrel length, if it's a single shot (no action or magazine). An Encore, Contender, or the like can be great shooting guns and built to suit shooters of any size. Add a break to one, and nothing gets sacrificed. It keeps a lot of calibers on the table that would otherwise be swept aside. The plus in that being you won't be tied to a particular brand/type of ammo to keep it usable for him, and these days that can mean the difference in having ammo or not.

I started my daughter on a AR15 (.223), w a collapsible stock it fits perfect

She took 2 pigs, 1 doe and 1 buck with it over 2 years

All under 100 yards.

It’ll work fine

My waffle top Marlin will leave me with a blue shoulder after five rounds. Unless the OP loads his own like a lot of us .30-30 shooters, I think that's WAY too much recoil.

.243 My son has been shooting a Browning Abolt Medallion since he was 8 and was small for his age. Now he is almost as big as me and still shoots it.

Soak in what SpongeCop has to say.

Go with the .223!
No need buying another gun, since there have been a couple deer killed with the .223.
Him being able to shoot accurately is more important than him missing with a larger caliber because he was afraid of the recoil.

Just don’t go using a varmit bullet, and a 223 will do just fine

Not sure of your budget, My daughter shoots a Browning X-Bolt Micro. 7mm-08 shooting Hornady "Light" ammo but a .243 would be great

Budget gun would be anything you could find near Bandera which is COMPACT, short stock.

Oh Yea, EAR PROTECTION while hunting is a must. Howard Leight noise cancelling muffs. About $50. He will be able to hear but not the gunshot,

The problem now is ammo. You really have to shoot what cartridges you already have ammo for or reloading components for.

Getting a new round can be really expensive and frustrating in this market. I had a friend call me asking my advice about a Sako 6.5 PRC that was on sale. I told him make sure the store has ammo he can buy with the rifle or he should pass.

He's using his 308 again this year.

First thought was a Marlin 30/30, but he’s 6. Could be a problem.

My go to is a 6.8 AR. Plenty of power and not much recoil and kills hogs, coyotes and deer with no problem. 120sst.

30-30, iron sights.

I would say 243. My best friends wife hunts with a Browning BAR in 243. I have personally watched her drop a Mule deer "DRT" at 396 yards and she is 72 years old! Mild shooting in a semi but you could also buy reduced recoil for a bolt gun. One of the best, under rated, over looked, accurate cartridge available out there. Born in 1955 and still kicking!

My 9 year old shoots a Contender G2 in 300 Whisper (Blackout). It's small and has little recoil.

I started out both my wife and grandson with a Remington .222. Wife killed a deer and decided she decided she didn’t want to do it again. Grandson inherited it and killed his first deer at 6 yoa. He’s now 22. First great grandkid that wants to hunt gets it now.

Lots of good info guys thanks. I'm gonna let him shoot the ar, moved stock in and fits great. Vortex viper 4 16 on it now so he can get up close. Need to find some ammo, all I have in 223 is a bazillion fmj rounds. Also gonna get a 10rnd mag, get rid of the hang down problem. if he does well I'll start looking at yalls suggestions, thanks, and I'll report back if he bags one. BTW, I use the Hornady sst 165 grain in my 308, I assume they have a 223? Really has served me well hunting.

For factory ammo, they are pretty good at sticking a deer on he box for their deer ammo.

I don't know if you want to go with a .308 or not or how much you want to spend, but my father in law has a sweet Winchester Model 88 .308 Win. with a short stock on it already that he'd sell. Looks to have been cut down to a youth model.

Located in Odessa.

I think the .22 Mag is illegal anyway.

300 Ham'r ,6.5 Grendel or 223. In that order. All are light kicking and deadly on deer.

Another idea might be a soft kicker that has enough bullet would be one of the old Euro rounds in 6.5x55 or 7x57in factory ammo... I started my small framed youngest at 8 with a .223 and he handled it off the bench OK. Took him to the lease and he said I'd like to shoot a deer. We used one of the tall tree stands about 50-60' off the ground that overlooked a feeder pen. An almost full grown doe showed up and he put the bullet where it was supposed to go at the tree blind's extreme down angle, knocked her down and rolled her over but she made her feet and ran off...young son was OK with the idea of the kill but almost could not handle the doe's getting away while wounded. We found her couple hundred yards away DOA but he never hunted again.

When Dallas VA screwed up my shooting shoulder in trying to dig out a fist sized 22 oz non malignant tumor from the side of my neck, top of my shoulder and down into my spine, I could not raise my hand to scratch my ear for almost 10 years when I had been shooting 300WMgs or 9.3x62's off the bench easily ...and started over with a 6.5x55 and fell in love with it. That lil SAKO Swede is what kept me going during those years when a 270 was almost too much unless I had down loaded it.

Good 120gr'ers at max speeds out of the Swede was plenty of bullet on game out past 200 yards too. My Winchester Fwt 7x57 in 140 gr'ers will fill that description too. The cure of my shoulder came 3 years ago with multiple steroid shots that have worked on the bone spurs still left in the ball & socket joint from the surgery 10 years earlier.

Balance the weight of the rifle x's the recoil poundage and young son will grow into the bigger calibers as he matures. BTDT
Ron

FIFY

It is crazy to me, reading the posts about the recoil of the 30/30 and then the recommendations of a .243. In my very limited experience (one rifle) a plastic fantastic Ruger American .243 packs a heck of a wallop to the shoulder and the cheek. Vs my little Marlin 336 youth gun with solid plastic butt plate, I can literally shoot all day just for grins. A whole afternoon of wasting ammo, all 170 grain loads, might make my shoulder a little bit sore with my 30/30.

The Ruger American was accurate but not comfortable to shoot. Sold it. Maybe in an 8+ pound wood stock savage axis, the .243 could be comfortable to shoot. But .243 in a compact, plastic stock gun… you can’t tell me it has less recoil than a 30/30 lever gun!

Going back through this thread which I believe ran off the rails a bit. I was guilty too but after reading the original post. In my worthless opinion.

6 years old is WAY to soon to actually shoot game. There I said it. I know all "Dads" want this for their kids, but I think 6 is just too young. 9-10 is better.

I know some of your kids killed deer at 2 years old but I think 6 years old is a teaching age, shoot at the range, hunting is a lot different. A wounded deer will ruin him forever.

IDK, do what you feel is best. I'm an old guy, I still hunt with my 31 year old daughter every year. Every year she kills her deer and cries. She shot an Axis a few years ago, after stalking it. Her first shot did not kill it. She had to walk up on it and see it suffering, finish it off at close range. This is NOT what anyone likes to see but it can be traumatic on a child and could ruin him/her for a lifetime of great experiences. .

Sorry to be a downer but maybe a few more years of watching Dad, listening and learning what hunting is all about..

Thoughtful post.

Disagree. It's about ability, not age. Whether that's 6 or 16, every kid is different depending on how much time you spend actually teaching them and the individual kid. My 4 kids all started shooting and hunting at a young age. Once they could prove to me that they were ready to shoot an animal, I let them. If they were shooting tight groups at the range but couldn't hold it together with a deer in the scope, then we waited. That simple. No pressure from me, they're ready when they're ready. My youngest Son proved to me he was ready at age 7, and he was. Made a perfect 100 yrd heart shot. I've seen kids shoot better than some grown men, they tend to be more focused and haven't developed bad habits yet. As far as making bad shots and ruining a young hunter for life, that's just silly. Bad shots happen to people of all ages and yes it sucks......but when you fall off a horse you don't give up run home and cry to Mommy, you get back on it and ride.

Thank you for that and I hear you. All three of my kiddos have been out at the ranch practically every weekend of their lives, including 8 hunting seasons now and have "helped" me dress out several deer. I try to have them with me as much as possible around the ranch and the other guys. He's a tough kid. with that said, I have had some rough situations with deer that didn't go down, so I am mindful of that. I've talked to him about it and I think he's ready.

What Buzz is saying has merit but I agree with you. My son at 6 could handle the hatchet and mark the trunks where I needed to log em, and that was about it. My nephew at 6 could outwork some of the men here. That boy is big and strong.

Sounds great, I hope he shoots a big-un

I started my son with a .cut down 223 at age 6. The little rifle fit him for one season. We practiced ALOT leading up to hunting. We also watched a lot of deer video with him sittin by the screen. I paused the video and he would tell me shot or no shot. Then he would put his finger on the screen to show me exactly where to place the shot. Then we practiced dry firing at does to see if the crosshairs were still on target after the hammer fell. He was prepared and we had zero problems. I hunt MLD and need to cull a good many deer each year. He shot four that year, all in the crease just behind the point of the shoulder on a broadside deer. They all ran. The furthest went about 70 yards. All were recovered and he helped “knife on” every one. Some of the best hunting memories I have is him learning to beat the doe fever and rubbing his hands on the fur of the first one and asking me “where is the meat”?. Be honest with yourself and don’t let him draw down on one till you are certain he possesses the skill and knowledge to close the deal. Shot placement is vital with any rifle. It is more so with a small caliber in the hands of a youngster.
All the best to your boy and you.

Edit to add: recoil for a six year old and a grown man is two different things. If your son is like mine was, he wold not admit how much recoil he feels. Err on the side of caution and don’t develop recoil associated bad habits. He is most likely not going to tell you but the results may be lasting. Put ear plugs in that boys ears.

I got a 243 when I was about his age. Still have it.

He got it done!!!

Haha, congrats!
Good looking kiddos sir.

greatness

Congrats, that is pure awesomeness!

I started my son on a Ruger 77/357 I bought here. My BIL had started his sons with lever action .357s. Killed several deer. One large 12 point at 125 yards. They used 125 grain HP. I started with 125 JSP. He killed a nice spike at 70 yards. 35 caliber hole going in. Quarter sized hole coming out. It’s about as perfect a starter as I can think of. I put it in a laminated Boyd’s stock and cut the stock to length for him. I kept the piece I cut off and I put it back on this year with wood glue and screws and he just keeps using it.

CONGRATS!!!!!!

Man that’s awesome what did he end up using?

Looks like the AR, check here for more of the story. https://texashuntingforum.com/forum...re-my-boy-got-his-first-buck#Post8441625

Yea sorry, Rock river lar 15. .223 picked up some Winchester xp 64 grain power point at bass pro, 32 dollars for twenty. Sheesh 1 sgotbwas all he needed though.

I find the comments about 30-30 recoil being heavy intriguing. I don’t doubt that for some it does feel harsher than a .243, even with the caveat of both rifles having the same weight and fit. I also don’t doubt that for some people .243 feels harsher, same caveat. I find 30-30 more comfortable than .243.